New to the site and could use some advice

[Guest guest]

Greetings:

I just joined your site tonight. To make our painful story short...

my 49 year old brother was rushed to the hospital this past Monday and

then LifeFlighted to another hospital later that night. When we left

the first hospital, we were told by the nurse practioner that he had

no chance of survival. His liver had failed and his kidney's were

close behind.

He was a drinker for many years. Recently he went on disabilty due to

3 bulging disks in his back. When the pain medication made him sick

to his stomach, he stopped using it and turned to more alcohol to ease

the pain. All the while, deep depression was sinking in as he got

sicker from the cirrhosis.

His wife knew he was ill, but didn't pass all of the symptoms on to us

(I think she was in denial)... trust me - had I known he was this

sick, I would have taken him to the emergency room long before this

past week.

Now that I have researched cirrhosis and the symptoms, I see he had

most or all of them. The bleeding, the jaundice, not eating, the

messed up sleep patterns, the mental confusion, the unbelievable

swelling... I could go on and on.

Here's where I'm confused though. They have had made it perfectly

clear that he is not eligible for a transplant. And they also made it

perfectly clear at the first hospital that he would die. So why did

they transfer to him to a hospital that specializes in liver and

kidney problems? We can't seem to pin down any one doctor down on

what they are doing at this point. I've learned that his kidneys are

starting to produce a bit. But his ammonia levels still remain high.

He is still on a ventilator. He also has a touch of pnuemonia. His

haeart is good and his vitals are good. But his blood remains too thin

to do a liver biopsy.

What exactly do they hope to acheive? If he can't get a liver

transplant... are they just keeping him alive for the sake of keeping

him alive? I want to meet with his doctors, but of course, his wife

has the final say on that. So I thought I'd come here and see if

anyone can shed some light on where we might be headed.

This is devestating to our family. He has two children, the youngest

is a 14 year old boy. He is my only sibling and I'm feeling somewhat

alone in my quest for answers. Honestly, I don't even know if I'm on

the right website... if not, I hope you folks can point me in the

right direction.

Many thanks,

Lori